Rotary Chandigarh Shivalik organizes a fund-raiser ‘Dinner in the Dark’

Prime objective: To motivate ‘sighted’ people to respect the visually impaired and to create annual scholarships for talented visually impaired GIRLS.

Rotary Chandigarh Shivalik  organised  a  fund-raiser ‘Rotary Dinner in the Dark’ (RDID) on September 5, in Chandigarh at Hotel Sip ’n Dine, which was the Hospitality Partner. The basic objective of  RDID was to ensure that ‘sighted’ people respect the blind and understand how they smilingly face the problems they face in their daily lives. Another objective was  to  create annual scholarships for talented visually impaired girls. The team of visually impaired  youth who  selflessly volunteered to be part of  RDID included  Shiv, Amrinder,  Kuljeet and  Soni.  They were assisted by a number of volunteers. Over  35 participants enjoyed the dinner in the dark.

Interestingly, the logo of the Rotary Dinner in the Dark was made pro bono by a highly creative and talented person living in Toronto, Canada – Paul Singh.

Giving details, Rtn. Manjit Kaur, President, Rotary Chandigarh Shivalik said, “In a totally pitch dark room, a team of visually impaired people  guided the ‘sighted’ to their seats and then served dinner  to them  comprising of starters, main course and dessert. Dining in pitch darkness, being hosted and served by a visually impaired person was a sensory experience as the attendees navigated food, drink and conversation as they may have never done before – without sight. It made them realize how lucky they were that they had been gifted with beautiful eyes to see the world.  The participants realized how difficult lives of visually impaired people are and their respect for them was enhanced.”

According to Rtn. Aneesh Bhanot, who is spearheading RDID, “An appeal was also be made for donating eyes and Forms of the PGI Eye Bank were available. An important takeaway  was that people realized that we must value the simple things in life, like eyesight, and not waste our lives crying  and running after material things we don’t have.”